Viking Tea Party

C-U-T-E!

Little baby things with skulls on them are so cute!

A Quick Link

For those of you who already have little ones or are expecting, Alicia of Posie Gets Cosy put together a fantastic Summer Reading List of books for children.  Just skimming it brought back lots of great memories.   

My brother and sister in law are coming over in a bit with their two kids so I'd better hustle to get cleaned up.  They're bringing over some baby stuff and also,Tilly, my niece, has been wondering where Uncle Matt lives.  Up until now she's kind of thought that he lives at the Build A Bear Workshop because they met up there a few times.  I think she's going to be a little disappointed.  If our cats weren't getting a little cranky and antisocial in their old age, she might at least get to pet a cat but they make themselves pretty scarce when someone knocks on the door. 

Stress Relief Through Stitching

I mentioned in my next to last post that I didn't really like being pregnant.  Honestly, that was barely scratching the surface.  I'm having a really rough time.  Bad days, big tears.  All of my issues don't have to do with actually being physically pregnant but I'm sure the hormones aren't helping. 

I needed a stress reliever - something to take my mind off things - so I finally pulled out the Forest Friends embroidery patterns I purchased from Sublime Stitching last month.  I'd forgotten how much I loved pulling a needle and thread through fabric and spent nearly the entire day stitching away except for the quick trip I took into town to buy a few more colors.  I've got to go through my unpacked craft boxes soon because I already have a pretty good stash of thread and really can't afford to pay a crazy 85p/$1.35 per skein to build up a new stash.  Plus I've got several other pattern sets from Sublime Stitching that I'd love to play around with again.

This owl was the first thing I limbered up on yesterday.  

 

Then I put the colors away and stitched this little hedgehog,

 

Now I'm working on the squirrel.  I'm taking my time and really making sure my stitches are even and feeling a little less stressed with each one of those little stitches.  And, Catherine, I had to go through French knot lessons again!  

 

I'm going to dig through my fabric stash, too, and back each of these with a matching fabric to make little stuffed animals for the baby's room or maybe a little mobile.

Speaking of the little acorn, I'm 25 weeks along and had a checkup today and got to experience one of the really great things about being pregnant: hearing the heartbeat for the first time.  At my only other midwife appointment she couldn't find the heartbeat so I actually ended up having a scan instead.  And regardless of how I feel on the inside, she told me that I looked great and that pregnancy really suited me which was really nice to hear. 

Another thing that makes me feel better is looking at baby clothes and we did a little of that this afternoon.  I know everyone oohs and ahs over cute clothing for girls but boy's clothes are pretty darn cute, too!   Picturing the little man who will fit into them also does a pretty good job of pushing aside a few of my problems - we can't wait to meet him.  

A Different Kind of New Member of the Family

Remember Buddy? 

When we left for Ohio last month I think I was almost more excited about seeing Buddy than I was about seeing my parents.  Heck, I'd seen them in March.  Just kidding.   And Matt had never even met him even though, after the long and frequent Skype chats we had while I was living with Mom and Dad and waiting for my visa, it seemed like he had.  Buddy was so excited to see us, too, and showed it by running out to greet us and peeing all over the drive way! 

My brother and his fiance brought their dogs up from New Orleans that first weekend and it was doggy paradise for Buddy.  He loves being around other dogs and just about wore himself out running around the yard with his friends.  My parents had been talking about getting another schnauzer pretty much since they got Buddy last summer but it wasn't until this spring that they went to see a litter born to a local breeder and fell in love with a little liver colored lump of love.  A couple of weeks ago, Buddy's new friend was finally old enough to settle into his new home.

This is Kidd, the newest miniature schnauzer member of the family!

And this is THE cutest picture I've seen of him yet.  Eep, so adorable! 

Cria Love

Two new alpacas were born last Wednesday!

Believe it or not, the little guy on the left was actually premature and had a rough time in the beginning.  My other-in-law said he couldn't hold his head up on his own and was having trouble breathing.  He's now runs all over and is almost the same size as the female on the left who was born, on time, earlier the same morning.  

I think his name is, ironically, Hercules and her name is Pandora.

Pandora is now my favorite -isn't she gorgeous?

This is Pandora's mum.  Doesn't she look like a mum?  She's the matriarch of the whole herd. 

Here's Hercules having a little roll in the dust with his mum.  I'm glad he pulled through as there as already been enough tragedy on the farm this year.  Just a few days before the sheep were to be sheared, one of them fell into the stream that runs alongside the land and drowned.  Sadly, it was one my mother-in-law was particularly close to because he wouldn't feed from his mother and had to be bottle fed last spring.  And just a few weeks ago an alpaca was killed by two wild dogs.  The last time we really talked to them about it, the police were not being very cooperative even though it's suspected that these were the same dogs that attacked and killed a Jack Russell a week or so earlier.  

Thank goodness these little ones finally came along or I might not have ever had anything to blog about.  Things have been slow around here.  I've got a little bit of mindless knitting to post but the two baby sweaters I've started are either hibernating or sitting in the naughty corner due to gaping holes under the arms that I cannot tolerate.  

I've also come to the sad conclusion that I'm just not one of those women who relish and really enjoy being pregnant.  While I love feeling our little acorn kick (and so does Matt - he finally got to feel him, too, a week or so ago) and can't wait until he gets here, I'm not in love with actually being pregnant.  Not only do I feel like what a balloon must feel like (if balloons had feelings, of course), painfully expanded (with a lot more expanding to go), but I'm ridiculously emotional, crying over every little thing (like, yesterday, discovering that we were out of eggs), and the homesickness is, to put it simply, really difficult.  

But I know it'll be over here in a few months and the wait will be more than worth it.  We've started on the baby's room which is something fun and positive to focus on.  We went on a little picnic to Stourhead yesterday and bought a fantastic piece of wood to cut in half and make into shelves.  It's actually from one of the trees on the Stourhead estate and still has bark running along one edge.  It'll look great hanging above the chest of drawers (which we finally picked out last week), packed full of cute little woodland creatures.  

In other news, I think I'm going to play around with my blog layout this weekend.  I've already changed the banner - a year of flowers and a teapot is more than enough - and am happy with it but there have got to be a few other things I can do to liven things up around here....

I Wish...

No, I haven't really accepted The 30 Day Journal Challenge that's going on over at Run With Scissors but I wish I could.  That is, I wish I could draw so that I could accept the challenge.  Granted, I only heard about it a few minutes ago and it started on June 14th but if I could draw I wouldn't let that stop me.  I'd just start the first prompt today and make my own thirty days of drawing and doodling fun. 

Alas, no.

My inability to draw, though, doesn't stop me from having a mini collection of moleskines.  I love moleskines and one of my favorite "I Have Nothing to Do" things to do is to click around the moleskine groups on Flickr: 

• Moleskinerie 
• Moleskine: One Page at a Time
• My Moleskine
• Sketchbook

There is so much talent there...it's amazing.  And more than a little capable of inducing extreme jealousy!

I am thinking about signing up for an Online Amigurumi Design Class with Brigette Read of Roman Sock.  I've always wanted to make up my very own amigurumi patterns and maybe a class with someone as talented as Brigette would give me a little inspiration.   

And finally, in baby news, I ate an entire frozen pizza for dinner tonight.  Unfortunately, 'll pay for it with heartburn and acid reflux at about three or four in the morning.... 

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

The piles started small but once you get started it's nearly impossible to stop!  Unfortunately I waited until the night before we left when things had to be packed into vacuum bags and then into a suitcase to take a photo instead of picking one of the other half dozen days when the sun was shining in the back door. 

 

Not only does our little acorn have his very own Buddy doll but he also has a Dayton Dragons (our minor league baseball team) t-shirt and ball cap!  Oddly enough, the BBC was at the game the following night filming the world's oldest living conjoined twins. 

We bought lots of lots of things that say "Mommy" on them (one of my favorites says "Mommy's Snugglesaurus") as everything here says "Mummy."  I'd like to be called Mommy or Mom but I doubt it'll work out that way.  

I know it seems crazy to cart this much baby stuff from the US to the UK but it was well worth paying $50/£35 for the extra suitcase since the dollar is a bit weaker than the pound and you just can't find sales and clearance racks of baby stuff (or at least I haven't had any luck) in England like you can in the US.  Plus I really wanted to shop for baby things with my mom and I know she was really looking forward to it, too.  It was loads of fun and I think it'll also give us the kick in the pants we need to start clearing out the baby's room. 

And, of course, I also bought yarn but probably not the kind of yarn you would expect a person to buy when traveling to another country.

 

Our second suitcase was also full of cheap yarn!  I bought some Vanna to knit a Bedtime Stocking Cap (my plan is to knit almost all of the hats - minus the girly girl ones - in this book - it's fantastic).  I based my color choices on the little helicopter onesie you can see second pile from the bottom on the left in the baby clothes photo.  I would have never picked these colors on my own but they work surprisingly well together.  And I bought some good old Sugar & Cream cotton for a dollar a skein (67p!) because I want to knit more Baby Genius Burp Cloths and Baby Bandana Bibs.  I knitted one of the bibs on the flight over and - eep! - they are so cute!  I picked up two skeins of Stitch Nation Alpaca Love just because it was on sale and I wanted to give it a try.  I think I might knit a Chocqua baby hat with it.  The Patons Wool I bought just because I use it a lot for amigurumi and only have a little bit of my last skein left and the Lion Brand Thick & Quick is for a Nathaniel Pillow (thanks for the idea, Sarah!) for the baby's room.  Honestly, the equivalent dollar amount in Malabrigo (which wouldn't be much, really) couldn't have made me happier than this cheap yarn.  It's practical for baby things and it can't be found around here.  

So I guess that's really what my summer vacation was all about: buying, doing and eating things that can't be found here in the UK.  I had a Wendy's cheeseburger at the Detroit airport during our layover on the way to Dayton and I swear it was best cheeseburger I've ever had!  I'm sure I packed a couple of pounds on during my visit but it was well worth it.  Unfortunately, I realized as we were on the way to the airport for our flight home that I'd forgotten to restock my stash of microwave mac and cheese.  Thank goodness we didn't stop because about five minutes later I remembered something I'd forgotten that was a million times more important: my pregnancy notes (they have you carry your own records here)!  Since I have a scan on Friday (yay!) we definitely had to go back to get them.  

Speaking of our scan on Friday...it's ridiculous how much we're looking forward to seeing him again!  It's also hard to believe that, most likely, the next time we see him will be in person, hopefully happy, squirming and making a lot of noise.  He's certainly been squirmy today.  I feel him several times a day anyway but today I think he must have decided that sleep is overrated because it's almost nonstop.  Not that I'm complaining! So far I'm not a huge fan of being pregnant but feeling him kick makes it all worth it.  :)

I Love the Lambs, Not the Sheep*

I've kind of lost my knitting mojo recently but I was able to pull out a crochet hook and crochet up a couple of sheep for Ginny's baby shower last Sunday.  First we have Sheldon, a super soft sheep made with some of my mother-in-law's alpaca yarn.  Due to a slower than usual breakfast at Young's Dairy I was scrambling to make it to the shower on time and only had a few minutes to take photos hence the glaring whiteness of this little guy.  He turned out really cute, though, and was easy and quick to crochet.

 

This little cutie from Tamie Snow's Tiny Yarn Animals book was really hard to part with!  I'm definitely going to crochet one of these for myself. 

Now it's time to start thinking about hooks and little woodland creatures.  Thank goodness for Ravelry!  I've already found several patterns that should keep me busy for at least a little while....

*so says French diplomat Roger Peyrefitte anyway

Woodland Stitched Awesomeness

Thanks for all the anniversary and baby boy wishes!  We've been doing a lot of baby shopping over the past few days and the dining room table is currently heaped with cute little outfits covered in puppies and monkeys.  We have quite a few things in blue but brown is really popular now, too, which I love.  We might have even already found our "coming home outfit".  :)

But today I wanted to show you my favorite gift so far: little woodland creatures by Chris that are perfect for our woodland theme nursery!

Look!  A squirrel!

How cool is he?!  Check out his tail!

 

And here's his little friend the turtle...

I love the print choices.  They're perfect for the shell and skin.

I can already tell our little boy likes them as he's been kicking me like crazy as I've been playing around with these photos.  :)

And there's more!  Chris also made these gorgeous, colorful bibs.

 

Note the hippo down there in the right hand corner!  For some reason all of these remind me of going to the beach.  Maybe because it's so hot here that a dip in some cool water sounds like the best thing in the world....

Thanks again, Chris!!

On This Day Last Year

I said, "I will," and became the luckiest girl in the world.